8/13/11 8/13/11

See a 200% Increase in Response to Your Twitter Stream

A week ago I was reading a blog post by Michael Hyatt on his daily reading list. Scanning the list, I saw a new service mentioned – Buffer. This is a simple-to-use little app that allows you to create tweets on the fly as you read RSS feeds, your Twitter stream, or just about anything else that may enter through your web browser.

Old news, right? Well, Buffer adds a new twist in that it allows you to spread your tweets throughout the day without preplanning your release schedule. Moreover, as I read the some of the articles on Buffer’s blog, I saw how using Buffer could increase my Twitter clicks by 200 percent.

How Buffer Works

Buffer installs as an extension within Chrome. The developers also provide extensions for most other popular browsers and platforms.

When you come across something of interest and you want to add it to your Twitter stream, simply click on the Buffer extension and it opens a familiar Twitter message box.

You are given two options: Tweet now or Add to Buffer. Buffer provides the initial text and link, or you can edit the text to add your own flair. When you are finished, simply click the Add to Buffer button and a little ball bounces for a second or two before Buffer gives you a little affirmation: “Awesome! One more Tweet in your Buffer. Keep it topped up!” (Wow, I’ve never felt so good about Tweeting!)

Take a look at your Buffer, and you will see all of your Tweets lined up and ready to go.

The Killer Feature

Now, for the killer feature as far as I am concerned: the schedule.

Buffer let’s you automatically create a simple schedule, instructing the app when to send your Tweets. On Buffer’s official blog, the developers recommend Tweeting between 1-4 times per hour.

Finally, to help you measure your success and make adjustments as necessary, Buffer provides you with basic analytical statistics showing the number of retweets, clicks, and reads your Tweets are receiving.

Setting up your account is free. With the free account you can buffer a maximum of 10 tweets. Also, with a free account you are limited in your scheduling ability. In order to give the app a true test, I upgraded to the “Pro” account, which allows me to buffer up to 50 Tweets and to customize my schedule.

How does it work? We’ll find out. Currently, I have 140 followers on Twitter. I am going to use Buffer for a month and see if I can track any improvement in my clicks or in the number of followers.

What do I like so far?

Tweet, schedule, and forget it. I love it.
Simple interface.
Positive “atta-boy” affirmations after each Tweet.
Simple analytics to help track your Twitter efforts.

Are there any negatives? Sure, the price ($10 per month) seems high for what Buffer offers. (You can save a little by purchasing an annual plan.) Consider, for comparison, that HootSuite is only $5.99 per month, and it provides a broader selection of tools.

So, watch my Twitter feed and you should see a lot more activity courtesy of Buffer.

2/26/09 2/26/09

What's In Your Presentation Toolbox?

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, provides a great look into his presentation toolbox. He's Mac-biased, and many of his applications reflect his preference, but it's still a good look at a professional presenter's process.

Here are Hyatt's presentation tools:

Hyatt also recommends the following books to help with crafting your presentations:

In reviewing my own design process, here are the tools I use:

MindManager. Almost everything I do starts with a mindmap in MindManager. I started using MindManager from Mindjet a couple of years ago, and it has now become my "go to" application for crafting any kind of message. Not only does MindManager help me actually develop the content, but the mindmap for each project becomes a central location, or dashboard, for all of the references, links, files, notes, content, etc. that will ultimately go into a presentation.
Logos Bible Software. Why would I need a Bible software program in my list of presentation tools? Well, as a pastor/teacher, I use a lot of Bible references, maps, pictures, quotes, etc., and Logos is the place where I get all of these content items. Forget retyping Bible verses or quotes, etc.; with Logos I copy and paste and it even provides the correctly formatted citation for me. Logos and MindManager are two applications that are open all the time.
PowerPoint. Unlike Hyatt, I have not gone over to the dark side and converted to a Mac. All joking aside, I know there are those who find clear advantages to the Mac OS, but for me, Windows is my native language, and I find the Max OS foreign. Moreover, I have a huge investment in Windows-based applications. So for me, PowerPoint is the presentation solution of choice. I am currently using PowerPoint 2007.
iStockPhoto. I would agree with Hyatt on his selection of iStockPhoto as the first stop for graphics. Although I must admit that I am checking out Flickr more and more. Many of the images on Flickr have a creative commons license and are free to use for educational or nonprofit presentations, and the library of quality images grows by the hour. If I can't find something on Flickr, I will head to iStockPhoto. Images at iStockPhoto are very inexpensive, especially for the lower resolution images needed for a presentation.
Video. There are a lot of videos that fit well within a presentation. For pastors, there are growing libraries of downloadable videos on a broad assortment of topics. Some of the more popular include SermonSpice.com, BlueFishTV.com, and ScreenVue.com. Even with all of the online libraries, there are still times when the clip I need is on a DVD. In that instance, I will use ImToo DVD Ripper, which allows me to rip chapters from a DVD and then embed it in my presentation.
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum. Ten years ago I used Adobe Premiere for all of my video editing. In the last few years, however, I have switched to Sony Vegas Studio. Vegas Studio is a great nonlinear editing program that has a lot of features for an inexpensive program. Not only does it do a great job with day-to-day editing, but it will easily handle the HD clips from my Canon TX1 camera.
SnagIt. SnagIt is one of those inexpensive applications that soon becomes indispensable. Whether I am in the research phase of a project and need to grab a quick screen capture and paste it into my mindmap, or I need a screen capture for a presentation, SnagIt by TechSmith is a great tool.
Microsoft Wireless Presenter 3000. There's nothing special about this except it works! There are many wireless presenters to choose from, I picked this one, and it has worked well for me. Regardless of which brand of wireless presenter you choose, it's important to have one so you are not tethered to your laptop during your presentation.

Well, that's a look inside my "Presenter's Toolbox," what's inside your kit?

7/23/08 7/23/08

New Social Network Launched

After quite a few days of tweaking, I have officially launched my first social network using Ning. This is a social network for users of Logos Bible Software, the primary software I use for Bible study, teaching preparation, research, and anything else to do with biblical studies.

I have been a Logos user for 10 or 12 years. My first install of Logos came on floppy disks (a lot of floppy disks)! In the years that followed, I have continued to add to my electronic library to the point that I seldom crack open a paper commentary, Bible dictionary, etc. In fact, I have started donating a lot of my duplicate paper books (books that are in both my analog library and digital library) to our church library.

This will be a test project for me. I am interested to see how long it takes to begin to see a community develop. I am interested to see if the users of this social network contribute content that goes beyond simple back-and-forth communication. For example, will users begin contributing their own works created with Personal Book Builder, a tool Logos developed giving Logos users the ability to create content from any word or html document.

If you are a Logos user, please stop by the network and join us. If you are not a Logos user and are interested in Bible study, you should consider becoming a Logos user. If you are a student of social networking, I will continue to update you on the progress of this network and the lessons I am learning from its development.

You can find the network at http://libronix.ning.com/.

12/29/06 12/29/06

New Tool: Bible Pronunciation Website

Here's a handy tip from Morris Proctor:

Bible Pronunciation Website
A while back I discovered a free Bible
pronunciation website. It has been a while since I’ve listed it in the
newsletter and several have e-mailed asking for it so here it is:
You can click here to jump there
Here is the address: http://netministries.org/bbasics/bbwords.htm